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With the exception of a few First Peerson Perspective games which ,have been released on consoles, only a few have succeeded.
Will the latest offerings like Quake III or Unreal Tournament be at least half as good as the same games on the PC?
Dreamcast IGN had a play test of the mother of all FPS games Quake III. The were more interested with the online capability of the console which, as we all no, is the most important part of the future of gaming. The newly released broadband modem was used to pit the two best FPS gamers against each other.
They were impressed with the graphical detail of the game, claiming it wasn't far from the quality seen on the PC (i will have to judge that for myself). All this visual eye candy was being displayed at a constant 30 frames per second, even over the internet.
This is where the problem lies....frames per second. To make the game playable in a frantic deathmatch the FPS has to be as high as possible and not drop too low, otherwise you could be killed by a person before you see them. 30 FPS is very respectable for a console but i would be a bit concerned about playing it at that low rate. I play that game on my PC and get between 90 and 180 FPS, depending on resolution and detail settings. At those framerates the game run very smoothly. If i up the resolution to 1600x1200 the framerate drops to around 30. At that speed the game can get a bit jittery.
It's not just the DC which sufers from this. Apparently the framerate on Unreal Tournament played on the mighty PS2 drops to 15 when there is a lot of action.
We will have to wait and see whether the current level of console can effectively play Firt person persective games.
Will the latest offerings like Quake III or Unreal Tournament be at least half as good as the same games on the PC?
Dreamcast IGN had a play test of the mother of all FPS games Quake III. The were more interested with the online capability of the console which, as we all no, is the most important part of the future of gaming. The newly released broadband modem was used to pit the two best FPS gamers against each other.
They were impressed with the graphical detail of the game, claiming it wasn't far from the quality seen on the PC (i will have to judge that for myself). All this visual eye candy was being displayed at a constant 30 frames per second, even over the internet.
This is where the problem lies....frames per second. To make the game playable in a frantic deathmatch the FPS has to be as high as possible and not drop too low, otherwise you could be killed by a person before you see them. 30 FPS is very respectable for a console but i would be a bit concerned about playing it at that low rate. I play that game on my PC and get between 90 and 180 FPS, depending on resolution and detail settings. At those framerates the game run very smoothly. If i up the resolution to 1600x1200 the framerate drops to around 30. At that speed the game can get a bit jittery.
It's not just the DC which sufers from this. Apparently the framerate on Unreal Tournament played on the mighty PS2 drops to 15 when there is a lot of action.
We will have to wait and see whether the current level of console can effectively play Firt person persective games.
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Usually when I glance at an opponants screen, when I look back to mine, I'm dead.
So I don't.
Apparently there is no lag on Quake 3 on Dreamcast at all. Which is nice.
So I don't.
Apparently there is no lag on Quake 3 on Dreamcast at all. Which is nice.
It doesn't ruin the experience that much by being able to see you're opponents screen. Having to find each other can waste time and although it can ruin some elements of surprise, for the moment, the games are faster and more skillful than the PC multiplayer games which are let down by a lack of skill due to lag.
Anyway, it's slow modems that cause lag and bad connections make the lag worse. Still, when the broadband adaptor comes out, these problems for the PC will disappear.
Anyway, it's slow modems that cause lag and bad connections make the lag worse. Still, when the broadband adaptor comes out, these problems for the PC will disappear.
Its all very well having split screen Dan, but it kinda ruins part of the experience when you can see where your friends are all the time rather than having to find eachother.
As for consoles win this and consoles win that, your talking about things that should be happening in the future, not what is around at present.
Consoles have just started giving an online experience and hopefully will build upon that. You mention lag from PC's but you have to remember that they tend to hold more players at once than multiplayers on consoles.
Plus when you go online with a console, you know everyone playing alongside you has the same thing and that their console can handle the game. PC multiplayers can lag because a player with a slower comp joins a game and it slows everyone else down.
Not saying PC's are perfect while consoles are crap, just saying that you should think of these points instead of just blindly running to the defence of consoles.
Hopefully consoles will catch up with PC's in terms of player numbers, etc. I guess its just a matter of waiting for it all to happen.
As for consoles win this and consoles win that, your talking about things that should be happening in the future, not what is around at present.
Consoles have just started giving an online experience and hopefully will build upon that. You mention lag from PC's but you have to remember that they tend to hold more players at once than multiplayers on consoles.
Plus when you go online with a console, you know everyone playing alongside you has the same thing and that their console can handle the game. PC multiplayers can lag because a player with a slower comp joins a game and it slows everyone else down.
Not saying PC's are perfect while consoles are crap, just saying that you should think of these points instead of just blindly running to the defence of consoles.
Hopefully consoles will catch up with PC's in terms of player numbers, etc. I guess its just a matter of waiting for it all to happen.
By 'consoles' you mean the nintendo GCube, havn't heard that Sony have one out yet, and with their budget history, they will probably advertise one but never bring it out.
Easily.
With 56K modem, PC internet suffers from lag. Split screen = no lag = faster play. Consoles win!
With broadband adaptor, PC has top speed play online. Consoles will also have broadband adpators by then and will be just as competent online. They'll also have an optional split screen for when friends are around. Consoles win again!
The only advantage the PC REALLY has in being able to download patches and extra levels and characters. Which is good but doesn't rate over gameplay!
With 56K modem, PC internet suffers from lag. Split screen = no lag = faster play. Consoles win!
With broadband adaptor, PC has top speed play online. Consoles will also have broadband adpators by then and will be just as competent online. They'll also have an optional split screen for when friends are around. Consoles win again!
The only advantage the PC REALLY has in being able to download patches and extra levels and characters. Which is good but doesn't rate over gameplay!
I don't think there will be any problems in FPS's "surviving", the question is more can they ever compete with PC versions when it comes to multiplayer gaming.
These days with all the genre mixing going on it's hard to tell what kind of game you're playing. You can get First Person Strategies, First Person RPGs, Role Playing Strategies (not much good examples...), Third Person Shooters (Metal Gear Solid kind of thing) and so forth. Now you get variatons of First Person Shooters as well like Single player but not multiplayer, Both and Multiplayer only (with bots for single player multiplayer...?¿?). Now that people have all begun messing with the boundries of genre it means a whole load of new and original games, interfaces and things. It can allow us to get right inside our character's head in RPGs (literally), see the battle from the front lines in RTSs (or TBSs... Turn Based Strategies), have a bunch of heroes under our command commanding our armies and all sorts of new and interesting features. Of course this does not mean that we are going to leave behind the old types of games like normal RPGs, because the format for them is so good (Baldur's Gate... Need i say more?) that there is no need to change them (but there is a want), of course there is also a lot of originality just waiting to be plucked from them. RPGs with gamesmasters for example and who knows what other innovation could arrise in the future!
The question of whether First Person Shooters work on consoles or not is not easy to answer straight. There have been some successful FPS games on consoles so far, including Goldeneye and Perfect Dark so obviously FPS games can be successful on consoles, but the problem is that can multiplayer FPS games on consoles manage to keep up with PC ones? With their limitations to four players it does seem difficult, and no matter how many game modes you have it doesn't help if there are five or more of you. Also with First Person RPGs and Strategies it will probably be difficult for consoles to handle all the variables, and strategy games are never as good on consoles. So will FPSs survive on consoles in the future? Who knows...
The question of whether First Person Shooters work on consoles or not is not easy to answer straight. There have been some successful FPS games on consoles so far, including Goldeneye and Perfect Dark so obviously FPS games can be successful on consoles, but the problem is that can multiplayer FPS games on consoles manage to keep up with PC ones? With their limitations to four players it does seem difficult, and no matter how many game modes you have it doesn't help if there are five or more of you. Also with First Person RPGs and Strategies it will probably be difficult for consoles to handle all the variables, and strategy games are never as good on consoles. So will FPSs survive on consoles in the future? Who knows...
I think one thing that Nintendo have done wrong with multiplayer games such as Goldeneye and Perfect Dark is the fact that they are split screen. Of course this is still fun but it takes away a certain element that makes FPS multiplayers so good.
I remember when i played Doom on the PS with my cousin. Because it was a link up and we had our own screens, it added that extra tension to the game because we didn't know where eachother was. It was also nice having the whole screen to look at instead of a small box in the top or bottom corner. Obviously not everyone can afford to have this kind of set up in their house with multiple screens and consoles, but there should be more of an option for link ups as well as split screen so players can have a much better experience of an FPS multiplayer. As for consoles comparisons to PC's, console companies need to try and improve their online network more because in terms of numbers of players, consoles cannot compare to PC's. Its all fun having like 4 players online, but it must be even better when you can have teams of something like 10 aside in a capture the flag game !
PC's tend to be superior in graphics too on these games. The only way consoles ever improve on the graphics is because they release the title like 2 years later when lets face it, its had plenty of time to try and improve on them.
When Doom arrived on the PS the mags were like "PS owners get improvements like better shadowing on the levels !". At the end of the day, these are basic improvements, the game had already been around on PC's for ages and while we all sat back and drooled over the option of a 2 player link up, PC owners were enjoying 10 player networks.
FPS's can work on consoles, but to really get the full enjoyment out of the multiplayer option of them, there needs to be an improvement on the network for online play and less split screen play.
Split screen is all well and good, but games such as Goldeneye never gave me the same atmosphere as Doom did because it gives too much away when you can just look at where your opponents are at any time.
I remember when i played Doom on the PS with my cousin. Because it was a link up and we had our own screens, it added that extra tension to the game because we didn't know where eachother was. It was also nice having the whole screen to look at instead of a small box in the top or bottom corner. Obviously not everyone can afford to have this kind of set up in their house with multiple screens and consoles, but there should be more of an option for link ups as well as split screen so players can have a much better experience of an FPS multiplayer. As for consoles comparisons to PC's, console companies need to try and improve their online network more because in terms of numbers of players, consoles cannot compare to PC's. Its all fun having like 4 players online, but it must be even better when you can have teams of something like 10 aside in a capture the flag game !
PC's tend to be superior in graphics too on these games. The only way consoles ever improve on the graphics is because they release the title like 2 years later when lets face it, its had plenty of time to try and improve on them.
When Doom arrived on the PS the mags were like "PS owners get improvements like better shadowing on the levels !". At the end of the day, these are basic improvements, the game had already been around on PC's for ages and while we all sat back and drooled over the option of a 2 player link up, PC owners were enjoying 10 player networks.
FPS's can work on consoles, but to really get the full enjoyment out of the multiplayer option of them, there needs to be an improvement on the network for online play and less split screen play.
Split screen is all well and good, but games such as Goldeneye never gave me the same atmosphere as Doom did because it gives too much away when you can just look at where your opponents are at any time.
I hate all PC FPSs! ever since I last played Doom I decided never to play another PC FPS again, it makes me sad when I see them reviewed, the graphics and gameplay is nothing compared to Sony and Nintendo games! my head would explode at this time, but it is unhuman and almost impossible, but then, nothings impossible if you set your mind to it, and I don't think my mind is set to killing it's self right now. damn, I went round in a circle there, just like a dog trying to bite his own tale. HA HA I laugh at myself!!
The processor, is 64 bit, rather intrigingly. But, the graphics processor called Flipper, that handles, suprisingly, all the graphics, is at LEAST 512 bit. Probably double that.
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